Viewing page 33 of 49

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

March 25, 1968
Aviation DAILY
Page 119

ATA OFFICIALS DISCUSS WAYS TO STREAMLINE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Big increases in international travel in the next several years will require a streamlining of clearance prodcedures, passenger and baggage handling and airport facilities, a panel of Air Transport Assn. officials told the International Aviation Club in Washington.

Last year, 9 million international and territorial air passengers, either arriving at U.S. airports or being precleared at airports outside the U.S., required the services of U.S. inspection agencies, ATA president Stuart G. Tipton said. The number is expected to jumpt to 16.7 million in 1970 and 47.6 million in 1980. Thus, no segment of the air transport system or associated airport functions, including inspection formalities, "should wed itself to fixed conepts which undoubtedly will become obselete within the next few years," he said.

James Landry, ATA's v.p.-international, advocated "one-stop inspection" for passengers. "Four separate full inspections--public health, immigration, customs and agriculture quarantine--for arriving passengers at the international terminal tomorroq qould be, on its face, impractical and unworkable..." Spot-checking of baggage "will have to be the rule" and will give inspectorxs more time to focus attnetion on a greater number of problem passengers, he said. "Canada's inspectional agencies have indicared that adoption spot-checking...at Montreal and Toronto have, for this very reason, increased the number of their interceptions."

Landry praised U.S. Customs for eliminating this week all written baggage declarations for visitors arriving in the U.S. via Kennedy Airport. "Eventually, this will be expanded nationwide, thereby simplifying and expediting the entry of all foreign visitors..." He also said that visas are "outmoded and unnecessary" and that a wallet-size passport card should be adopted.

Joint U.S. -Canadian Inspection Proposed

Landry suggested that a "good hard look" be taken at a proposal "that could lead to a truly revolutionary overseas arrivals at U.S. gateways, would also undertake to perform Canadian inspection requirements and, if the Canadians in turn would do likewise, no further inspections would be needed whe visitors from other countries crossed the U.s.-Canadian border in either direction. Further, under this concept, Canadian as well as U.S. inspection formalities and duty requirements would be eliminated for U.S. and Canadian citizens when crossing our common border."

Pointing out that baggage handlings by U.S. airlines totaled 340 million in 1967 and will reach 545 million in 1970, Norman Philion, ATA . v.p. -traffic, said the industry has been financial development of the Teletrans prototupe automatic baggage handling system. Before long, he added, carriers will discuss with the contractor the possibility of airpot installation of the system.

Also underway is the joint ATA/IATA program to "completely automate passenger processing worldwide." Five industry project teams are working on such items as specifications for ticket format and encoding, standards for design and use of credit cards for applicatio to automated ticketing and boarding machines, standards for hardware, and development of a computer system design and related programming specs for a system to perform fare construction and determine interline settlement values.

Joseph A. Foster, ATA v.p.-airport facilities, said "airport master plan reports" are now being prepared for the 23 hub airports that generate nearly 80 percent of all airline traffic, plus a number of medium and small hub airports. The reports, which include an "in-depth evaluation of existing conditions and anticipated future requirements at each airport," will eventually cover all U.S. air carrier fields, he said.

MOORE JOINS AA AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT-ADMINISTRATION

J. Warren Moore, former treasurer for Lever Bros. Co., will join American Airlines on April 1 as senior v.p.-administration. He will handle special projects, personnel and properties and facilities for American, as well as becoming a member of its board of Sky Chefs--American's restaurant, catering and hotel subsidiary. Moore had been with Eastern Air Lines for 18 years in its finance department was asst. treasurer and a member of the board before joining Lever Bros. Co.